COLUMN: Kawhi's game evolving for Spurs

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LOS ANGELES -- Kawhi Leonard's role with the San Antonio Spurs hasn't expanded yet. But it will, eventually.

He came in as the long-armed, tough defensive stopper, thought of highly enough that the Spurs traded veteran guard George Hill to get him on draft night, 2011, and coach Gregg Popovich plugged him into the starting lineup almost from the moment the lockout-delayed season began.

The 21-year-old from Riverside King and San Diego State hasn't fully developed his offensive game. But it's coming, to the point that the comparisons to ex-Spur Bruce Bowen, who carved out a long NBA career out of being a stopper, ultimately will be old, old news.

"Offensively, he's much more gifted than Bruce," Popovich said before his team's 84-82 victory over the Lakers Tuesday night at Staples Center, adding with a laugh: "Bruce was terrible. I think he'd say that, too.

"He couldn't dribble, couldn't pass. He had no moves whatsoever, which is a testament to him having a long career and becoming an all-NBA defender, learning to shoot an NBA three from the corner. He worked very hard to have his NBA career.

"Kawhi will have it a little easier than that because he's more skilled. Right now he's just working on feeling comfortable, (figuring out) how he fits offensively around the other three guys who do the main lifting as far as scoring goes."

Leonard does still defer offensively, which is to be expected in a lineup with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili.

But his scoring is up a tick (10.3 before Tuesday night's seven point effort in 27 minutes, compared to 7.9 in 64 games last season). He's not a long-range bomber yet -- no comparison with Bowen there, since he has a 31.5 percentage on three-pointers after going 1 for 2 Tuesday. But after shooting 66 percent from the foul line as a junior at King, and shooting in the 70s his two years at San Diego State, Leonard came into the Lakers game having made 15 of 16 free throws this season, 93.8 percent.

"I've got the same role as last year," the quiet Leonard said. "Just go out and try to compete on defense, and let the offense come. I just know where my shots are going to be, so when I'm open I'm going to shoot. That's it, really."

During a summer that he split between San Antonio and Riverside, he worked on shooting off the dribble and on catch-and-shoot situations. But there are some aspects of the NBA game you don't learn from summertime workouts in the gym.

"You tell a player, 'Don't play in a crowd,' and it doesn't mean anything," Popovich said. "You have to have him go play in a crowd first, and go charge somebody, and get the ball stolen a whole bunch. Now he understands, and now he can pull back.

"This summer and during training camp, that's what we had him do: Get a rebound and don't pass it to anybody. Dribble it down the court, and go score. And he did it. Sometimes he scored, sometimes he ran over people, sometimes he dribbled it off his toe. Now when I talk to him and say 'Don't play in a crowd,' he understands what that means and what the choices are."

For an organization with as strong a structure and culture as that of the Spurs -- basically, a culture built by Popovich -- throwing the rookie into the starting lineup from day one was a risk, especially without benefit of a full training camp. Yet the experience likely hastened his development.

"I came in last year after the lockout and I didn't know the plays, so I was learning on the fly," Leonard said. "I know the plays now. I know the guys around me even better ... When I came in the veteran guys saw how I took basketball seriously. They just took me under their (wings) and taught me the game, made me a better player."

Leonard wound up starting 39 games, the most a rookie had started for Popovich since Parker's 72 starts in his rookie year. And in addition to being a first-team All-Rookie pick, he also was named to the USA Basketball Select team that practiced with and scrimmaged against the Olympic team last summer, an indication of his growing stature.

" I just threw him into the fire, like I did Tony (Parker) when he was 19, because if you can do that and a kid can handle it, it's a great learning experience for him," Popovich said.

"You have to be a little careful because some guys can get destroyed by that. You don't always know about everyone, but you can tell ... Watching him in practice, we decided to roll the bones and make him a starter."

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